Customer Reviews

Sweet And Lowdown (Rare, hard to find, OOP release with both Widescreen & Fullscreen Versions)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sweet, gentle, sad, with amazing performances by Sean Penn and Samantha
Morton.

Interestingly, this got mixed reviews on release for being 'small' in
scope, but to me that's its great strength. As screwed up as the Sean
Penn character is, we still get pulled into him, and it makes for a
lovely portrait of a sad, lost, brilliant jazz guitarist whose ego may
be even bigger than his great talent. Penn and Allen conspire to
create one of the most simultaneously infuriating and oddly
ingratiating characters of recent memory

No big conclusions or statements, just a subtle, brilliantly acted
comic and tragic study of humanity. That's enough make this the
strongest Woody Allen film for a number of years.

Two comments on the DVD. For some psychotic reason, after a brief run
where the DVD was made with both a 1:85 wide screen version and
a 4:3 full screen on the same disc, the DVD was re-released with
the doctored 4:3 version only. This is a beautifully composed film visually, and seeing
it with a large part of the image gone is a real loss. (Alternately,
if you have a region free DVD player, the region 2 version is widescreen
as well).

Also, this marks yet another Woody Allen film currently out-of-print,
meaning that much of his great work (including even 'Annie Hall') is
no longer being made. I keep waiting for the re-release/upgrade, but
have heard or seen nothing for months. So in case these films are being pulled
for some obscure legal or other reason, you might want to grab copies
while you can.

It's very disappointing that Woody Allen chooses not to put any extras in his DVDs. It would be great to watch a commentary by Allen explaining his choices for making a movie like this. It's an interesting film about a fictional jazz musician and his life, filled with both triumphs and heart-wrenching downfalls. Penn plays Emmett Ray, the jazz guitarist who is chronicled in the movie. Penn does a fantastic job. Samantha Morton plays his girlfriend, who he leaves to pursue his dreams of stardom, but the film leaves us believing that we should all be careful of what we wish for and not take anything, or anyone, for granted. It's one of Woody Allen's best movies of the last 20 years, and it's supported by some great performances by Penn and Morton. Worth watching if you are a fan of Woody Allen's work.

My toes are a tapping when I listen to this. Really enjoyed the soundtrack. Saw a VHS version of the movie and, although the performances were good, didn't really enjoy the movie very much but the soundtrack is great. Really captures the era for me.